A world like this: existentialism in New Zealand literature
Institution: | University of Otago |
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Department: | |
Year: | 0 |
Record ID: | 1299633 |
Full text PDF: | http://hdl.handle.net/10523/5426 |
Literary existentialism has evolved unevenly in New Zealand since the late-nineteenth century. In this thesis I will define and trace the pre-existentialism of the early pioneers and settlers, which originally emerged as a Victorian expression of their experiences in an unpredictable new environment. Then I will describe how during the 1930s, 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s some of their descendants modified their world-view with ideas popularly associated with French literary existentialism, including notions about the individual's freedom and responsibility to act in an unmediated universe. Finally, I will conclude that references to existentialism are relatively rare in contemporary New Zealand literature because in a predominantly secular society the struggle to survive in a godless, indifferent universe has been absorbed into New Zealand writers' continuing preoccupation with the necessity of fellowship.